Duong Thuy Vi of Vietnam championed the women’s qiangshu (performance with spear) event at the ongoing World Wushu Championship in Kazan, Russia.

Duong Thuy Vi of Vietnam won the first gold medal in the women’s qiangshu for the country at the World Wushu Championship in Russia on September 30.

Vi was pitted against 16 other athletes from various countries in her category, which saw her take the highest score of 9.64 points.

Seo Heeju from the Republic of Korea came second with 9.63 points and Keiko Yamaguchi of Japan finished third with 9.65 points.

It was Vi’s second world title after her triumph in the same event in 2013.

She also took part in the 2015 tournament but could only bag a silver.

Vi is currently the best wushu taolu (performance) athlete in Vietnam. 

She won two gold medals at the Malaysian SEA Games in August. She is also the only Vietnamese who has become a champion at the Asian Games so far.

Earlier, Vi competed in the changquan (long fist) event but failed to make it to the top three.

Apart from her gold, Vietnam also secured a silver in the women’s taijijian (tai chi sword form) through Tran Thi Khanh Ly, who scored 9.55 points.

She was behind Chen Suijin of Hong Kong, who had 9.68 points. The bronze went to Japanese Saito Shiho with 9.53 points.

Another Vietnamese Tran Thi Minh Huyen was at fifth with 9.45 points.

In other events, Nguyen Thuc Anh ranked sixth in the women’s nanquan (southern boxing style) and Tran Xuan Hiep placed ninth in the men’s jianshu (performance with sword).

Vietnam currently stand third in the medal tally.

China is on top with four golds. Hong Kong is second winning one gold, one silver and one bronze.

The world championship will continue until October 3.

VNA